Ho Chi Minh City authorities have offered land and support to the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), which plans to establish a satellite campus in Vietnam, according to a press release issued by AIT Tuesday.

A delegation headed by Hua Ngoc Thuan, vice chairman of the HCMC People’s Committee visited AIT this month and pledged to complete all formalities so that the satellite campus could be shown to city authorities, according to the release.

“We are requesting AIT to open a university in Ho Chi Minh City to help meet the human resource needs of not just our city, but also of all of Vietnam,” Thuan was quoted as saying. “The city needs an engineering and technology university, and we invite AIT to fulfill this purpose."

Thuan was quoted as saying that the municipal authorities had decided that the AIT campus could be established on between 22-25 hectares of land in the Northwest part of the city, which currently hosts two university campuses.

Professor Said Irandoust, President of AIT, welcomed the proposal, describing it as “very promising.”

“With support from the government, a strong private sector partner, and an institute of higher learning like AIT; we now have all the necessary components to establish an AIT satellite campus in Vietnam,” he said.